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Was Michael Collins assassinated?
national |
arts and media |
opinion/analysis
Thursday December 19, 2013 23:17 by M Congannon
New book re-opens the case "The Assassination of Michael Collins: What Happened At Béal na mBláth?" by S M Sigerson (Kindle / Create Space 2013) is a controversial new study about the revolutionary leader's death. This new work about Michael Collins is generating some fierce arguments in online forums. For those who haven't heard, Collins was a leader of Ireland's War of Independence (1919-21). He's adulated by many as one of the founders of modern guerilla warfare. In any case, he was at the helm when Ireland, after 700 years of trying, finally forced the British to the negotiating table. |
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Jump To Comment: 1 2The problem here is with the term "assassination". We do not usually apply this term when the forces engaged are above a certain size. Questions like this can perhaps best be addressed by approaching from extremes.
Thus, those leading the forces of A might hope a particular leader of the forces of B might be killed in a attack of an army of A against an army of B where this leader of B can be expected to be present. But we never call such an attack an "assassination attempt".
On the other hand, an attack against the leader of B who at the time is accompanied by only a few body guards we would call an "assassination attempt".
What I am saying here is that we can for the moment leave "intent" out of it and simply consider the size of the groups engaged to determine if the term "assassination" could be applied even if the intent (that Collins got killed) was there. In my opinion, far too large for the term "assassination".
The past is irreversible although re-interpretive. What happened at Beal-na-Blath was a military ambush by the irregulars on the regulars, in a lousy civil war. What happened cannot unhappen. Move on and prepare for the 2014 local elections.